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Officials in Sioux Falls, S.D., say they are getting mixed messages regarding the type of computers that students can use to take new online assessments under the Common Core State Standards. While the district is investing $4.4 million to buy 17,500 new Google-support Chromebook laptops, state officials say the devices and iPads are not approved to take the online tests in 2014. However, Smarter Balanced, the consortium charged with crafting the assessments for 2015 and later years, has said Chromebooks and iPads will be approved.

Related Summaries

Schools nationwide are using a variety of digital tools as they align their curriculum with the Common Core State Standards. This article shines a light on how five districts are using technology to help them implement the standards and prepare students for assessments.

IBM has created a prototype of its cognitive computing system -- known as Watson -- that is designed to be a sort of digital teacher's assistant. Using the technology, teachers would have access to instant information and guidance on everything from lesson plans to ideas for measuring students' progress, as well as tools to help implement the Common Core State Standards.

Leaders in education must be open to making structural adjustments -- such as requiring all teachers to address literacy or altering the traditional school-day schedule -- to best facilitate the transition to the common core, K-12 leadership experts Jill Berkowicz and Ann Myers write in this blog post. "The Common Core cannot be successfully implemented until we free ourselves from past practices and allow the structural changes required for it to work," they write.

A variety of the latest math materials claiming alignment with Common Core State Standards were on display at the recent NCTM conference in Denver. In this blog post, reporter Erik Robelen notes that educators perusing the materials expressed caution and some skepticism about whether all the claims accurately reflect true common core alignment. "The bottom line? Buyer beware! Take a long, careful look before you decide if instructional materials live up to their claims," Robelen writes.

Some Florida State Board of Education members voiced concerns during a meeting Monday about whether schools will have adequate technology in place to implement Common Core State Standards assessments in 2015. The board had asked the state for $400 million in funding for new technology, but current budget proposals instead call for $100 million.